 Welcome to Computer Clarity's November 2005 newsletter, with special holiday gift-giving tips. |
Shop right onlineRemember, you can shop online and still patronize your local retailers. Browse web sites, do online research, do comparison shopping, then buy locally. The merchants live and work in your town, support your economy, schools and community events. And when you shop locally, you keep tax revenue in your own town. If you do shop online remember these safety tips: Be sure to shop at reputable sites. Make sure they have secure credit card ordering. Look for the lock or key in your browsers bottom right corner. Pay attention to shiping and handling charges before you complete your order, Write down your order number or print a copy to ensure you don't lose track of the order before it arrives. Beware of holiday scams and phony electronic greeting cards. Don't click a link to an image or a sound file if you do not know the sender. And finally, don't trust any e-mail messges from Santa. I hate to be a Scrooge but he uses reindeer, not a mouse. |
Featured ProductGenie Backup Manager is a $40 program that takes the guilt and worry out of backups. The program will back up specified files to any device. That means you can send the backup to a USB memory stick, to another computer across a network or to a password-protected space on the web via File Transfer Protocol. This makes remote backups as easy as sending an email. There are many other good backup programs too, but either fatigue, uncertainty, or a desire to live dangerously keeps way too many of us from doing this simple task. So, maybe we've just been waiting all this time for a Genie. Follow this link to download Genie, or let me know if you have any questions or need help. Genie Backup Manager |
Cold weather blues for laptopsDon't leave your laptop out in the cold. Cold weather drains battery life from cell phones and laptops, and these electronic devices are not meant to operate in cold temperatures. The safe temperature range for laptops, and most electronics, is 50 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Never boot up a cold laptop. In fact, many will refuse to start until they warm up. Let the computer sit at room temperature if it's been in the car too long. |
Ten things you can BUY in ten minutesFor the computer lover on your holiday gift list: 1. A new wireless mouse 2. A USB memory stick 3. A stack of read-write CD's for music lovers to share their favorite downloads 4. Books on every subject -- real books from your local bookstore, a joy to give and receive, or ebooks to read on the road. 5. DVDs with theater quality movie viewing for the price of a box of popcorn 6. An MP3 player & FM-radio. Look for the Sandisk brand on sale at local office supply stores for under $50. 7. Digital cameras - high quality under $300 8. The highly coveted iPod, for $300, but you better plan to spend another $4,000 on accessories! 9. A subscription to the online Wall Street Journal, $79/year 10. An external backup drive, a real life-saver for serious computer users. Oh, and did I mention my book "Computer Ease" is a cute gift for people aged 9 to 99? Available in print or as an e-book on my web site or online retailers for $14.95+s/h. About "Computer Ease" |
FreebiesHDTV -- We learned that high definition TV (HDTV) brings more channels to those of us with a HD enabled TV. It doesn't require a subscription to cable. There are extra free stations you can view if your TV is new enough to have the HD tuner. Go to www.checkhd.com for a listing of programs and stations. It's not just plain old PBS on Ch. 11 anymore. There is now programming on 11.1 11.2 etc. According to CheckHD, there are 840 HD capable stations and over 100 million households covered by the signal. ______________________________________________ Here's an interesting opportunity for Excel enthusiasts: Jaxworks.com offers free spreadsheet templates for just about everything you need http://www.jaxworks.com/library.htm. JaxWorks was created to provide analysis tools used by 5 top U.S. business consulting firms and make them available to small business. JaxWorks is a team of business analysts, both active and retired, from industry and education, with considerable knowledge of business finance and management. This could be just the thing you need to organize 2006 activites and projects! Learn more about free spreadsheets from Jax |
Beyond computers -- shopping ideas for soft and fuzzy gifts too...Lots of you loved last month's suggestion to visit www.redenvelope.com for gift ideas. Now you can also get great ideas at www.surprise.com where you can choose gifts based on personality and recipient's style: athletic interests, movie buff, sense of humor, even someone who's always cold. They have fun categories, surprising suppliers witt gift ideas from all over the world, including socially conscious suppliers. For more predictable interests, you'll find merchandise from over 60,000 stores at www.shopzilla.com. From Hanukkah candles to Kate Spade handbags, games and puzzles. |
That's it for nowMy book "Computer Ease" is now available, in time for holiday giving. It's an helpful little book that won't call you a dummy. You can purchase "Computer Ease" from my website, and online retailers www.amazon.com and www.bn.com. For 2006, invite a friend or colleague to sign up for a free subscription to Clarity Connections by clicking the blue "Get our Newsletter" button at www.cclarity.com. Happy Holidays, Helen Gallagher Phone: 847-998-6240 Computer Clarity |
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